OPINION: For humanity's sake, vaccinate your kids

According to the NHS, there are less than 10 complications per one million vaccinations.

Zakk Greene

Editor's Note

The Red & Black publishes opinions from a number of contributors and staff columnists. Their opinions do not reflect the opinions of the editorial staff. The editorial staff is in no way involved with the opinion pieces published with the exception of editorials. Editorials are written by the editorial board consisting of the opinion editor, managing editor and editor-in-chief. Editorials are clearly marked EDITORIAL at the beginning. This article is from staff writer Raveena Chaudhari, a sophomore accounting major.

Since 1000 CE, humanity has been searching for ways to overcome deadly diseases. In 1796, Edward Jenner successfully utilized cowpox material to create an immunization for smallpox, and vaccination technology has flourished since then. Through widespread vaccinations, smallpox was eradicated and other diseases like measles and mumps have been significantly tamed. Each year vaccinations become more sophisticated and protect everyday people from the sicknesses that kept humanity in the dark ages.

Vaccine hesitancy, the “reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines,” is one of the top ten threats to global health according to the World Health Organization. Diseases that were once close to elimination are making a comeback, and the mortality rate from illnesses has been rising despite the availability of vaccines.

Those who refuse to vaccinate their children, need to understand the jeopardy they put their kids and future generation in. Don’t believe the preposterous theories, vaccinate your children.

Today, childhood vaccinations are vital to a child’s healthy development. According to the Center for Disease Control, babies are born with strong immune systems with antibodies from their mothers but lose it over the first year of their lives. Little ones who have weak immune systems gain immunity to diseases like rubella and tetanus without having to fall sick with the illness first.

Back in 1900, the leading causes of death were pneumonia and tuberculosis, and many children did not have strong enough immune systems to fight off such illnesses and succumbed. Vaccines not only protect young kids but also save parents worrying and multiple trips to the doctor.

Despite the information on the reasons vaccinate children, anti-vaxxers vilify modern day vaccines for ridiculous reasons. Those against vaccines claim that vaccinations lead to horrible side effects. For example cancer expert Martin Gore passed away in January 2019 after a routine yellow fever vaccination.

One of the vaccinations side effects is organ failure, which killed Gore. However, this is extremely rare occurring less than one in a million doses, according to the NHS.

Typically for vaccines, the CDC states that there are effects like a mild fever and a sore arm, but more serious risks like a severe allergic reaction or seizures are rare outliers.

One of the most ludicrous beliefs out there is that the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine causes autism. Jenny McCarthy is a well-known figure to the anti-vaccination community who claims that the MMR vaccine was what caused her son to develop autism. The MMR shot was dubbed the “autism shot” and many parents ran away from doctors’ offices.

The MMR shot does not cause autism or increase the risk of autism. Since the outbreak of measles due to vaccine hesitancy, studies like the one conducted by the Annals of Internal Medicine have found no link between MMR and autism. Vaccines will not give your child autism.

Worse, vaccine hesitancy puts others at risk. Measles was not considered a large threat for children due to good vaccination coverage, but parents delaying their children’s immunizations or outright refusing to get them have been key to the measles outbreak in 2017.

Measles is highly contagious and can cause debilitating and fatal symptoms such as encephalitis, pneumonia and permanent vision loss. The Americas and Europe, in particular, had the greatest increase in cases, despite the two countries once being close to completely eradicating the illness. Diseases that were once controlled are now making a comeback and wreaking havoc on people around the world.

Nobody likes being sick. It ruins both happiness and productivity and gets others sick as well. The first vaccines were a breakthrough for humankind and we were no longer subject to the plagues of nature.

If parents truly want to protect their children and future generations, they should call their kids’ pediatricians and set up their next vaccination appointment.

In about the same short amount of time it took the “Heartbeat Bill” to pass through the Georgia House of Representatives, a protest was organized primarily by University of Georgia women to oppose its official passage.

The opioid epidemic has impacted thousands of lives across the country. At the University of Georgia, professors across various disciplines are studying the national effects of opioid and other drug-related deaths on the state’s treatment options in local communities and health care policies.

UGA Miracle celebrated raising over $1.1 million for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at their annual Dance Marathon, starting Saturday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. and ending Sunday, Feb. 24 at 10 a.m, with over 2,100 students in attendance.

Across the country, universities with Miracle programs host Dance Marathons as a celebration and fundraiser for local children’s hospitals affiliated with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a nonprofit organization. Sponsored children and their families often attend.

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